Fire-escape



l. M. KRYL.

FIRE ESCAPE. 'APPLICATION FILED SEPTA. 1911. l l Patented July 13, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

1. M. KRYL.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 4,1917.

1,346,787', Patented July 13, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

.l I l@ JOSEPH M. KRYL, OF CHICAGQLILLINOIS.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 1351920.`

Application mea september 4, 1917. serial No. 189,527.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH M. KRYL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, inthe county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Fire Escapes, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, referencebei'ng had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

The invention relates to improvements in lire escapes and has for its object the provision of a compact arrangement of the stairs or ladder, and the means for raising'it It is an object of the invention to arrange the means which raises and holds the 4lad-,v

der in an elevated position, so that this portion will not be compelled to occupy a posi. f

tion and extend in a` direction opposite to that in which the ladder extends. The above named arrangement in some instances necessitates the portion which holds the ladder in elevated position to extend into the building line of an adjacent structure.

The arrangement herein shown also eliminates the use of a short section of stairs,y

to the end of which the ladder is usually pivoted. This stair section is provided and inclined so that the pivot vof the ladder may be positioned to bring the end of the counterbalanc'e arm within the building line of the structure to which the device is secured.

A further object of the invention is to produce a means whereby the ladder may be held in its lowered position, after the removal of the weight which caused it to assume this last named position. It is also an object to construct an arrangement whereby the ladder and the means which elevates the same, coperate to Vlimit the upward movement of the ladder, and to permit of an adjustment whereby this upward position may be varied to suit various conditions. i

yIt is an object to produce .these and other advantages in a simple and expeditious manner without resulting in a corresponding reduction in efficiency.

The invention will be more readily undertion of a connection which may be resorted to'between the ladder and the means for raising same.

In the embodiment of the'invention shown in the drawings the use of the usual'ladder or stairs 10 and platform 11 is contemplated, each of these being provided with the usual railings 12 and 13. A counterbalance mechanlsm generally designated 14 is arranged to coperate with the ladder 10 to cause same to be held in an elevated position,'as shown in full lines in Fig. 1. This counterbalance 14 is so arranged that the ladder 10 may be held in a lowered position when desired, after it has been caused to assume this position; this feature being explainedmore in detail hereinafter.

By referringto the drawings it will be seen that the ladder 1() and the arm 15 16, normally assume positions in which they are substantially parallel to each other, and that they are pivoted to swing away from. each other when the ladder is lowered. This which carries the counterbalance weights is due to the fact that the arm and ladder. 1

carry the gears 17 yand 18 which mesh with each other. It will be understood that both sides of the ladder may be providedwithl counterbalance weights and gears, and alsothat when occasion demands one set of these arms andfgears may be eliminated without interfering with the satisfactory operationV of the device. The arm 15 and ladderrlOv and their cooperating parts may be attached to the platform 11 lor may be vdirectly attached'to the building Vstructure itself, as found convenient or desirable.` 'Any suit. able arrangement for securing these parts in position maybe resorted to; that herein' sev shown"consisting of the plates 19 and 20,

which are each vbolted to the opposite sides of the platform 1l. Each plate may be provided with the bearing 21 through which is passed the shaft 22 which extends beyond the kopposite sides of the platform and has its stood when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in ,which- Figure 1 is a side elevation 0f the invention showing in dotted lines the parts in the alternate position. Y j,

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of Fig. 1; E

Fig 3 is a view of a modified construcopposite ends provided with the gears 18- 18, to each of which is secured one side of the` ladder 10. Each plate is provided with the stud shaft 23, one end of which is mounted in the'plate, the opposite end thereof Vbeing mounted in the bracket 24. This stud shaftA carries the gear 17 which in this instance is preferably secured thereto, and rotates therewith. This stud shaft has adjustably secured thereto one end of the counterbal'- ance arm 15, the opposite end of which-as shown, extends in the same direction as the `ladder 10 when the ladder is raised.

end of this arm nearest the stud shaft is provided with the hub 25 and the set screw 26, whereby the arm may be adjusted Vand secured to the shaft 23, which, as before stated, carries the vgear 17. This `end Aof thearm is further provided with the clamping I .i 'Y bolt 27 which extends through a slot'28 provided in the gear 17 .v The arrangementV just described permits the arm to be adjusted so thatY the Vweights 16 will act upon the ladder 10 to hold it in its lowermost position'rwhen it has been once forced down bythe weight of a'person being applied thereto, instead of permitting the ladder to Vseek its raised position each time the ladder is overbalanced, As before stated, the

free end Vof this arm is provided with the counterweights 16' which are shown as being held thereto by means of the bolts 29 which p assthrough the slot 3() provided in said j erm. This arrangement permits the weights to be moved upon the arm to vary the lever- Vage to. overcome the weight of the ladder. It will further be noted that the end of the .arm to Iwhich the weights are secured Vis' Y bent laterally, so thatthese weights may acty to again lower the arm, and raise the ladder when the portionv of the arm between its pivot and the weights assumes a substan- ',tially vertical position; and the Weight which caused the ladder to be lowered is removed.

` VVA means is provided whereby the movement of the yarm 15 and ladder 10 toward each other is limited, This means consists of the' stop 30 which ispositioned in the path of the arm 15, and secured to the ladder 10.

This stop may, when found desirable, beV

constructed to vary the inclination of the ladder from the horizontal position in which it is shown in the drawings, to one in which the ladder is normally inclinedV to the hori- Zontal. This feature results in that the free end of the ladder may be normally positioned at one side of an object which may protrude from the building to which the de- Y vice is attached. This meansV is, shown as consisting of a bolt 32 which is adjustably mounted inthel stop 30. While this adjustable element is shown as operating against the end of the arm 15, it is evident that Vsame may beV positioned at any place Valong its length.

more compactarrangement results, permitting the device to be installed in instances andY under conditions where ,a device in which the arm projects in the opposite dij rection could not be utilized` Thev device is provided with means; whereby an Yadjustmentmay be had which will cause the lad.

The

By arranging the vbalance arm with its weight so that it projects toward the'ladder, instead of in the opposite direction,y a

der to be held in its lowered position when sameV has once reached this position. These same means also permit the ladder to be adjusted with relation to the arm 15 so that'i-t may be positioned at various angular positions. The means whereby the above results are obtainable include the boltk 27, slot 28and set screwv26. It can readily be seen that when the Vbolts 26 and 27 are loos-V ened either or both, the arm 15 and ladder` 10 may be moved from the horizontal position shown to any desired inclination. When it is desirable to hold the ladder in. its lowered position after it has once been brought to this position an adjustment of the bolts 26 andv 2.7 .ofthe arm 15 will be resorted to, permitting the arm to travel from one side of the pivot of the ladder to. the other, andl the force exerted by the arm in the last V*men-V tioned position will tend to retain the lad-V i der in its lowered position.

I have illustrated and described the con nection between the ends of the ,arm and the ladder as a gear connection. It VcanV readily be seen that. various arrangements at this pointmay be resorted to7 also that this mechanism can be incased so as to shield the same against the. weather when desired.

From the foregoing explanation of the arrangement and mechanism employed it can readily be seen that theladder will normally be held inea raised position and upon the application of weight thereto the l same will be lowered; vcausing the arm `to l move upwardly .to the position shown in dottedlines in Fig. l. When the counterbalance is in this position it is evident that the center of gravity of the arm is Vstill upon the same side of the pivot as the ladder, which fact by virtue of the connection between the ends of the arm and the ladder will cause the ladder'to again beraised or swung upwardly when the weight, isremoved therefrom, which causes the'balance arm toagain belowered to the full lineV position Y arrangement whereby 'the` ladder may be op-V y erated by a means which eliminates the use of the gears 17 and 18. In this structure Y Vobvious that others diii'erent from Vthose shown might be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Y. 110V The device shown 1n,I1`1g.'3 illustrates an Y What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a fire escape the combination of a ladder and a supporting structure therefor, said ladder being pivotally connected at an end to the supporting structure so as to permit it to swing to a raised or lowered position and being arranged with respect to the supporting structure so as to permit of a direct passage from the supporting structure to the pivoted end of the ladder 'or the application of weight to cause the lowering of the ladder when the ladder is raised, and means for raising the ladder from its lowered position after the removal of the weight, said means being pivoted at the pivoted end of the ladder and including a weighted arm which extends toward the free end of the ladder and which is arranged substantially parallel to the ladder when said ladder is in raised position.

2. In a fire escape the combination of a ladder and a supporting structure therefor., said ladder being pivotally connected at an end to the supporting structure so as to permit it 'to swing to a raised or lowered position and being arranged with respect to the supporting structure so as to permit oi a direct passage from the supporting structurc to the pivoted end of the ladder for the application of a weight to cause the lowering of the ladder when the ladder is raised and means for raising the ladder from its lowered position after the removal of the weight, said means being pivoted at the pivoted end of ythe ladder and including a weighted arm which extends toward the free end of the ladder, and which is arranged substantially parallel to the ladder when said ladder is in raised position, said weighted arm being so positioned that upon the i'ull descent of the ladder the arm will bear such a relation to its supporting pivot that the ladder will remain in its lowered position.

3. In a firel escape the combination of a end to the supporting structure so as tov permit it to swing to a raised or lowered position and being arranged with respect to the supporting structure so as to permit of a direct passage from the supporting structure to the pivoted end of the ladder for the application of weight to cause the lowering of the ladder when the ladder is raised, and means for raising the ladder from its lowered position after the removal of the weight, said means being pivoted at the pivoted end of the ladder and including a weighted arm which extends toward the free end of the ladder and which is arranged substantially parallel to the ladder when said ladder is .in raised position, and means for adjusting the relation of the weighted arm to the ladder so that upon the full descent oi the ladder the arm may bear such a relation to its supporting pivot as either to tend to raise the ladder or to retain it in lowered position.

4. In a lire escape the combination of a ladder and a supporting structure therefor, said ladder being pivotally connected at an end to the supporting structure so as to permit it to swing toa raised or lowered position, and being arranged with respect to the supporting structure so as to permit of a direct passage from the supporting structure-to the pivoted end of the ladder for the application of a weight to cause the lowering of the ladder when the ladder is raised, and means for raising the ladder 'from its lowered position after the removal of the weight, said means being pivoted at the pivoted end of the ladder and including a weighted arm the length of which terminates within the length of the ladder and extends toward the freeend of the ladder.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 27th day of August, A. D.,

JOSEPH M. KRYL. 

